More honours for Hughes

Latest News

Five-time Olympic medallist Clara Hughes will pick up another honour later this month.

After being presented with the Investors Group Spirit of Sport Award at the Canadian Sport Awards last month in Winnipeg, the 34-year-old Winnipeg native has been awarded the 2006 International Olympic Committee Sport and the Community Trophy, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced yesterday. The award recognizes contribution and commitment to promoting and assisting the development of sport nationally and internationally.

MULTIPLE MEDALS

Hughes will be presented with the award as part of the 2007 Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame Gala Dinner and Induction Ceremony, April 21 in Halifax.

The only athlete to win multiple medals at both the Olympic Summer and Winter Games, the four-time Olympian captured her fourth and fifth Olympic medals at last year's Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy with a silver in the women's team pursuit and gold in the 5,000 metres on the last day of the Games.

Following her gold medal victory, Hughes pledged $10,000 to the athlete-driven humanitarian organization Right to Play. Since then, she has helped raise more than $430,000 to assist in the development of young people through sport in the most disadvantaged areas of the world.

A Right to Play Ambassador since December 2003, Hughes recently became Co-Chair of Right to Play's Canadian Advisory Board.

MOVING ON UP: Winnipeg's Jennifer Saunders downed Fabiola Marquez of Chile 15-10, 15-2 for her third straight victory in women's singles at the Pan American racquetball championships to advance to tomorrow's round of 16 as the fifth seed, yesterday in Santiago, Chile.

TOP ROOKIE: Stonewall's Sheena MacDonald of Winnipeg's Prairie Fire has been named a finalist for National Ringette League Rookie of the Year. MacDonald will represent the NRL Western Division against Ainslay Kerr of the Waterloo Wildfire and Marie-Eve Demers of the Montreal Mission.

The NRL will present its awards prior to the inaugural NRL Championship game between the Edmonton Wam and Montreal Mission, Sunday in Dartmouth, N.S.

The 19-year-old center had 23 goals and 28 assists in 24 games for the Prairie Fire after leading the Belles Sixers to the national championship title last year.

TABLE TENNIS TITAN: Fresh off his second place finish at the Manitoba Open Provincial Table Tennis Championships, 13-year-old Terry 'Tian' Zhang is headed off to Montreal this week to represent Canada at the North American Championships and a World Junior Circuit event.

The 2007 Canada Winter Games bronze medallist lost to 39-year-old former Israeli professional Gennadiy Mikhailiants 11-6, 6-11, 11-4, 5-11, 14-12, 12-10 in the A Singles final. However, he bounced back to beat Canada Games teammate Fred Eng 11-8, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8 in the Youth Singles final.

"It's just the experience and the style of play that gave Terry trouble," said Manitoba Table Tennis Association executive director Ron Edwards.